


The Wild Raven Witch

by Blimbgis_the_Turgled



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Lilith is a bit of a dumbass, Mama Eda Clawthorne, but she means well, coven leader eda, wild witch lilith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:00:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26682589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blimbgis_the_Turgled/pseuds/Blimbgis_the_Turgled
Summary: What would happen if Eda decided not to forfeit the duel against Lilith?This story follows a possible outcome where Eda beat her sister in their duel for the single opening in the Emperor's Coven and promptly joined the E.C.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Lilith Clawthorne
Comments: 49
Kudos: 188





	1. A Failed Plot

**Author's Note:**

> this started out as an idea at 3:30 in the morning one day and it got me interested

"Edalyn Clawthorne, we welcome you into the Emperor's Coven!" said the Coven representative.

Eda had easily won the duel, despite being crippled by the curse affecting her body. 

While Eda was escorted away to receive her new uniform, Lilith ran away, far away, to the coast of the mainland, to the Owl House

They had built it together as a hideaway, known only to themselves. A House Demon named Hooty guarded the place, he was annoying, sure, but he was very good at his job, and he was always there if you needed a friend.

Lilith ran into the largest bedroom and curled up. Her plan had failed in every way possible. However strong she thought Edalyn was, she severely underestimated it, she was younger, yet far more powerful and had taken the position she had been vying for her whole life, and now she didn’t know what to do.

* * *

Lilith grew weary of the idea of joining a coven one day, much to her parents' confusion. You  _ had _ to join a coven, it was law after all, but Lilith was disheartened by her dream being yanked away from her, and she was haunted by that terrible impulse to curse her own sister. She didn’t even know what the curse would do, and yet she had still cast it on Eda because she was jealous of how strong the younger girl was.

The fact that Lilith was failing school was a concern as well. She had sunk into self-depreciation and distanced herself from everyone. She wasn’t eating much either and seemed less-inclined to care for her well-being.

One night, sleep would not come to her, so she went for a walk to find some distraction from the thoughts swirling around in her head. She happened upon a group of witches from the Emperor’s Coven, she hid behind a corner so she could watch them work, this was a rare opportunity indeed. Then she saw Eda, dressed in her white Coven Robes “ _ this must be Edalyn’s squad _ ” she said to herself

“Are you ready, Lieutenant Clawthorne?” asked the voice of an older witch

“Yeah...just...just get it over with” said Eda, discomfort heavy in her voice “just make sure to give me the elixir right after you don’t need the Owl Beast tonight, alright?”

The other witches performed some ritual, Lilith recognised it as a draining ritual, used to capture magical creatures so they become too weak to fight back. Eda clutched her chest in pain and fell on all fours, her body changed to some kind of monstrous owl creature with four limbs, it’s feathers the same color as her fire-red hair. It warbled and followed a command by one of the other Coven witches.

Lilith covered her mouth, her eyes wide in horror. “ _ I did that to her _ ” she realized “ _ oh Titan, what have I done?! _ ”.

Lilith made a vow that night, she vowed to never join any coven, not even the Emperor’s Coven, and then vowed to one day tell her sister the truth.

As the months went by, Eda was the subject of a lot of public attention, at 15 she was sure to rise in rank from Lieutenant, to Coven Leader in just a year’s time.

Lilith felt pride in her sister’s accomplishments, but the twangs of guilt followed quickly after.

And so Lilith isolated herself in the Owl House, neglecting to tell anyone her whereabouts. 

* * *

Lilith snuck into a Covention one day...out of some morbid curiosity perhaps, she wasn’t really sure herself. She had the hood of her cloak up to hide most of her curly red hair, as she weaved through the groups of witchlings eager to join covens. She saw one join the Illusionist Coven, and winced a little when she saw that happened.

A glyph from the coven in question was placed on the boy’s wrist, and it blocked off the rest of his magic flow aside from Illusion magic. “ _ This could’ve happened to me _ …” she said to herself “ _ is this truly a just system? _ ...” she looked around some more to distract herself.

She saw posters with her face on them, but they weren't for her capture for refusing to join a Coven, they read "Missing: Lilith Clawthorne. Reward: 400,000 Snails" with a description of her and to collect a reward from the Coven's Second-in-command, Edalyn Clawthorne. The date on the poster showed that it had been 7 months since she had been declared a missing person. Lilith could only assume there were people who either believed her to be dead, or vacated the Boiling Isles

She saw Eda talking with some witches from the Healing Coven and the Potions Coven. Once again curious, she moved close enough to eavesdrop. 

"There is no cure...I'm so sorry, Ms. Clawthorne" said the witch in Healing Coven regalia, laying a hand on Eda’s shoulder 

“All you can hope for is to keep taking the elixir on a daily basis” said the witch in Potions Coven regalia.

The news made Eda’s face fall “and you’re sure it hasn’t been made public yet?”, she visibly relaxed when the older witches told her it hadn’t.

Eda cracked her neck, the curse was aging her faster than normal, so she had gone to lengths to make sure that nobody saw her as a weak figure. Illusion magic hid her wrinkles and hair dye hid the grey hairs in her mane. She saw someone in her peripheral vision who had red hair and large glasses, but they slipped away. Eda shook her head and dismissed it was just a trick of the eye.

She wished Lilith was here

* * *

Lilith sat in the forest, carving a staff from a branch of an ancient tree like the witches of old once did before the Coven System. Her Palisman took the form of an albino raven, and when it came to life, it cooed and hopped on her shoulder, nuzzling into her cheek. 

“Welcome to the world...Sapphire” she said, giving her Palisman a scratch under the beak "happy birthday"


	2. Broken Ties and New Bonds

Eda sat in bed that morning for longer than normal. Today was Lilith's birthday, she would’ve been 21 today, and it had been about four years since the day the sisters had last seen each other. Eda had tried to make time to ask around Bonesborough once a week for any information on her missing sister’s whereabouts.

Every time, nothing came up...Lilith was either dead or no longer on the Boiling Isles. Eda tucked her legs close to her chest and allowed herself to openly sob.

After her morning rituals, she left her quarters in a faux-composed state. Next to Belos, she was the most powerful witch alive, she had to look and act the part too, lest her weakness show through her facade, she was the leader of the Emperor's Coven, she had to be composed. 

* * *

  
  


_ 20 years later _

Eda was now 39 years old and had established a reputation as a ruthless leader

“LET ME GO!!” a voice shouted down the halls

Investigating this lead to her finding her subordinates apparently escorting a shackled witchling...no...this child had rounded ears…a human? How was there a human on the Boiling Isles?

She moved closer and her subordinates stopped and saluted

"Coven Leader! We captured this human, what shall we do with it?" 

"Hey! Who are you calling an it?! HUH?!" the human shouted

To Eda, this human looked closer to a cute animal trying to be intimidating, albeit with somewhat tattered clothes, then she noticed something in the human's hands...ancient magic glyphs on paper. "Release her" Eda said "I'll take care of this, go patrol the grounds"

The guards saluted and left, leaving the human girl with Eda. 

"I got questions for you, kiddo, and I got a comfortable place for you to answer them" she said

  
  


Eda took the girl to a cozy foyer, where they shared some tea and the girl was able to answer questions. 

The girl's name was Luz Noceda and she had stumbled upon a portal from the human realm accidentally after she ran away from home about a year ago. In the time since she had arrived, she claimed to have learned ancient magic in the form of the glyphs she carried. She knew spells for light, ice, and plants.

"Why did you run from home, Luz?" Eda asked

Luz's face fell "my mom...she...she d-died...they-they were gonna send me away a-and then I ran" her eyes welled up with tears and she started to cry

Eda wasted no time embracing the young human, and letting her cry on her shoulder.

"Shhh shhh...its alright Luz...it's gonna be alright" Eda soothed her

* * *

"I must be honest, I had not expected to see you again, Lilith" Principal Bump said "everyone thinks you left or died" he said "and yet here you are, living off the grid...so, what can I do for you?"

"I...I need a job...the money's been running out and I don't know what else to do" Lilith sighed. She had dishevelled hair, bags under her eyes, and she hadn't been eating much to save on Snails. 

"Its alright, I understand...and I just so happen to have an opening for a Potions instructor...the last one died from a student-caused accident with a caustic liquid" Bump shuddered and grimaced, hinting that he had seen said accident

"I-I'll do it!" Lilith said, her face flushed from embarrassment "I-I mean...I will accept your generous offer"

  
  


Bump chuckled and held out his hand, which Lilith took. "Welcome back to Hexside,  _ Professor  _ Lilith Clawthorne"

* * *

  
  


Eda officially adopted Luz as her daughter within the week and decided to take her on as her protégé after seeing Luz's skill in magic with the glyphs. 

With Luz, Eda felt truly happy for the first time in years. When in the presence of the Emperor and the public, she cast an intimidating aura that matched her power and rank. Whenever she was alone with Luz, she could unwind and feel free. 

Luz posed a question one day during dinner with Eda and the Emperor that neither of the adults had expected.

"Is it alright if I went to magic school?" the human asked "not that I don't enjoy your training but-"

"Don't sweat it sweetie, I understand, it's not really healthy to coop you up in here at your age" Eda said

"I would suggest that you enroll her in the institution that trained you, Edalyn" Belos said, bringing a forkful of meat under his mask and somehow eating it

"That settles it, tomorrow I'm enrolling you at Hexside"

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luz is 14 here, like in the show
> 
> Next chapter we'll see the gang


	3. Closer and Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz enrolls at Hexside with Eda's help

Luz and Eda arrived at Hexside the following day after Eda had finished critical work. Eda wore her usual neutral expression on the way inside, and as they walked the corridors, several students whispered gossip about them.

Principal Bump was in his office filling out paperwork when he heard a knock "enter" he said, looking up he smiled "well, if it isn't the Leader of the Emperor's Coven, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

“I have a request” Eda said sitting in the chair opposite of the desk “I wish to enroll my human daughter, Luz, at Hexside”

Bump chuckled “that sounds like a wonderful opportunity. I believe the student-body would benefit greatly by having a human amongst them” he gathered up some papers from a filing cabinet and brought them before Eda, enrollment papers

* * *

  
  


The enrollment process was rather simple, and by the end, Luz Clawthorne would be a Hexside student coming next semester.

The fact that Luz could do magic, though with glyphs, spread pretty quick

This was not unnoticed by the popular kids, who figured that they could climb even higher up the social ladder by “befriending” the daughter of the Emperor's Coven leader. Well, all but one girl...Amity Blight, who was more curious than seeking to gain from the situation...not that she didn’t see the benefit of getting to know the daughter of the esteemed Edalyn Clawthorne. 

This human would visit every couple of days to see two students, Willow Park and Agustus Porter. Amity wasn’t really sure when the three had become friends, and it made Amity all the more curious. Luz had a pull about her, something that drew people in regardless of reason, Amity at times felt that pull.

The human girl stayed on Amity’s mind the entire school day, and on the way home. She was summoned to her father’s study and steeled herself for whatever they would throw at her.

“Close the door, Amity” said Alador, filling out important documents “and sit” he gestured to the chair facing the front of the desk

“Amity, it has come to our attention that a human has been enrolled at Hexside” Odalia said “as she is the daughter of Ms. Clawthorne I want you to get closer to her"

"You're asking me to...befriend a human?" Amity asked, not out of any disdain for the human girl, but out of confusion

"Normally we would be against association with a weak human" Odalia said "but we're... _ willing _ to make this exception" she spoke through gritted teeth

"Do good in the Coven Leader's eyes, you want to make an impression for when you join" Alador said

Join the coven...that's right...that's all she was good for...she was raised from birth to be an offering to the Emperor's Coven...to help raise the Blight name further up the social ladder. 

"Y-yes, father...yes, mother " Amity spoke timidly but clearly 

"Good, you are dismissed"

* * *

  
  


Lilith flew back to the Owl House on her staff after a trip to the market for groceries. She was looking much healthier now, the bags were gone from under her eyes, she was gaining back the weight she lost when she nearly starved herself, and she'd been taking care of her hair. She had straightened it now, and dyed it black in an effort to hide better from the law, not that she hadn't been doing an excellent job of that already.

Lilith touched down in the forest before walking the rest of the way. She heard voices and peeked over from behind a tree to see Eda trying to talk with Hooty.

"Titan damn it Hooty! Just answer the question!!" She shouted 

"Sorry, can't help you, hoot hoot!!" Hooty replied

"What do you want?!" Eda practically yelled by now "I just want to know where Lilly is!!!" she sounded desperate, then she collapsed on her knees, practically begging him to tell her “it's been too long”

Lilith considered walking out and revealing herself, she could tell her the truth and sooth her sister's aching heart. But something held her back...fear perhaps? Yes...Lilith was afraid of what could happen if she confessed the truth, so she stayed hidden in the trees while listening to her sister's cries.

"I'm so sorry, Edalyn" Lilith whispered "I want to help you...but I don't know what to do"

* * *

  
  


Luz approached Hexside and saw Gus and Willow in line for the bus to the Grudgeby game. 

"Hello friends!!" Luz greeted

"Hello, classmate" Willow replied back with a wink “ready for your first Grudgby game?”

Luz had been told ahead of time which color clothes to wear, yellow and blue, which she found in the school lost and found. 

Amity watched Luz from around a corner, at the beginning of the day she’d told herself over and over that she didn’t want to do this, but now she was pushing that aside. Luz was enthusiastic enough that Amity was able to push through her “mean girl” facade, if she had to get close to Luz, she wanted to do it her way, and she even admitted that for once in their lives, both her interests and the interests of her parents aligned. It was getting past Willow that would be the hard part.

Luckily, her parents hadn’t given her a timeframe to get closer to Luz, so Amity decided to take things at  _ her _ pace. Things were hard at first, Amity had no idea how to approach the human, she had no clue of what Luz’s interests were...that was until she saw Luz holding a copy of The Good Witch Azura...suddenly they both had something in common.

Amity first had to patch things up with Willow, as she was one of Luz’s very close friends, so she invited Willow to have a private chat on the roof. She explained everything to her, about the party, the threat Alador made, that she was forced to cut ties, and how Willow was never too weak to be her friend, and it was the other way around. 

Willow thought about it, and smiled, she accepted the apology and that they could start over again as friends. It didn’t mean they were friends right now, but it was a start.

* * *

Amity grew closer to both Gus and Luz over the week...well, more accurately, Luz actually reached out to her. There was something about the human that made Amity warm. Luz’s laugh sounded like springtime, and her eyes were such a captivating hazel-brown that sparkled when she was excited. Luz was enthusiastic and kind and loving, and before Amity knew it, she was getting along well in the friend group, as if she had always been there.

The ghost of the voices of her parents were at the back of her mind, but she did her best to ignore them, she wasn't doing this for them, she was doing this for herself.

Before she knew it, Luz had to go home, Eda picked her up and Amity waved goodbye, a sheepish smile on her face.

"Uh oh" said Willow, a smirk on her face

"W-what?" Amity asked

"Looks like  _ somebody's _ got a crush" she grinned mischievously 

"What?! Me? A crush on Luz? Pfft, come on! It's not like I lie awake all night thinking about her!" Amity said, a dust of pink on her cheeks.

Later that night, she was staring at her bedroom ceiling and her eyes widened " _ oh no _ "


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eda's curse begins to develop an immunity to the elixir

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no chapter name for this one cuz I couldn't think of anything

Luz walked out of Hexside whooping and cheering, she had passed her entrance test and was officially a student...the first human to ever attend a magic school. She called Eda up on her scroll on video call.

“ _ Hey kiddo! So…how’d it go? _ ” Eda was sitting at her desk

Oh, I don’t know, how does...the first ever human to attend Hexside sound?” Luz’s grin stretched ear-to-ear

Eda cheered and luz laughed “we’re celebrating tonight! We’re going to the best restaurant in Bonesborough!” 

She messaged her friends about the news and got equally excited responses from them. Amity replied with a “I can’t wait to see you in class!” Luz felt warmth rise in her face and she hummed happily, skipping off to home.

When she returned to the castle, she made a beeline to Eda’s office and pounced at her with a surprise hug.

“How’s my little Hexside student?” she ruffled Luz’s hair and laughed with a snort

“Eda...mom...thank you, for always being there for me when you can. I love you, so much”

“I love you too, kiddo” she enveloped her arms around her daughter, a happy tear in her eyes and a bloom in her heart from Luz calling her “mom” for the first time.

* * *

  
  


Lilith was in the kitchen poring over a textbook from Hexside as she worked on mixing a potion together for the next day’s assignment.

“Let’s see...3 pinches of Everroot extract...a dash of pumpkin…” her cowl was draped haphazardly on the counter, with a temporary name tag reading “Liliam Crow” pinned to it.

The Owl House was more furnished now, with her teacher’s salary, she was able to liven the place up some more, and with her cover identity, she was able to traverse Bonesborough and find unwanted furniture. The bookshelves now had loads of tomes covering all manner of magical aspects, including ancient curses.

A side project of hers was trying to formulate a cure for Eda’s curse, but months of attempts had left her with barely anything to show for herself. Magical artifacts seemed to be the only option left, but barely any were around, except for those in the Emperor’s Castle, and Lilith knew Belos had likely been intentionally feeding Eda some false information about them so that she didn’t use it to heal her curse.

After she finished with the potion for class, Lilith took a break and sat on the couch in the living room, sighing as she sunk into the cushions. On the coffee table was one of the many posters of her posted all around Bonesborough, it read “Missing: Lilith Clawthorne. Reward: 4,000,000 Snails. If found, please report to Coven Leader, Edalyn Clawthorne”. On the poster was yet again, a depiction of herself from when she was 16. She didn’t suppose anyone save for the few people willing to keep their mouths shut, knew what she looked like. Part of her thought things were better this way, but she remembered all the times she had seen Edalyn distraught over her “disappearance”. This was difficult situation, the right thing to do would be to confess the truth, but that fear of what Edalyn could do in retaliation was a terrifying, sobering thought. 

She knew one day she would not be able to avoid it.

* * *

  
  


Eda and Luz sat in the finest dining establishment in the city. The staff had given the mother and daughter a private dining area, and for a moment, Luz believed that she was dreaming. She could never have even breathed in the direction of this kind of life back on earth, it was far too pricey then.

As they ate, Luz shared with Eda the events of the day, her success in the entrance exam, her latest hangouts with her friends. 

Eda smiled as Luz gushed about her friends, and if she didn't know it before, she knew that accepting Luz into her life had been the greatest decision of her life. Luz had such a positive aura about her that felt like pure sunshine. Even the expressionless Emperor Belos seemed to subtly act more cheerful around the bubbly human ever since she started staying in the castle.

They stayed for two hours, but it had felt longer. On the way back, they talked and laughed more. Luz told her about when she met her teachers and she talked about the potions teacher, Liliam Crow, and how similar she seemed to Eda.

"Liliam, huh?" Eda asked, "why does that name seem familiar?..."

"Hm?" Luz asked 

"Oh, it's nothing…" Eda replied " _ but was it? _ "

They touched down at the castle and waited for the drawbridge to extend. Then Ed suddenly clutched at her chest, hissing in pain.

"M-mom?!" Luz asked, panicked, and gasped when she saw feathers sprouting in Eda's arms.

"G-get me inside,  _ now _ !!" Eda spoke in a more demanding tone to Luz then she had ever before. With Luz supporting her, they made their way to Eda's quarters.

Luz realized she had never seen Eda's room, inside it was generally orderly and well kept, save for a large nest where her bed should be.

"There's...there's a cabinet with my elixir geAAAGH!!!" Eda hugged herself, her nails digging into her sides, threatening to pierce skin.

Luz went to the cabinet and retrieved a round bottle of a golden potion, she uncorked it and quickly brought it to Eda who chugged it….it did nothing. 

It took 4 bottles for the feathers to stop growing, and then Eda collapsed into her nest.

"What was that?! What's happening to you?!" Luz asked, tears forming in her eyes

Eda thought for a bit before deciding to confess "I'm cursed, Luz...it happened when I was around your age...I don't know who did it or why, but if I don't take my elixir daily, I...I turn into a monster "

"That's horrible!! How can you live like that?" Luz covered her mouth

"Its not easy to live with a curse, but if you take the right steps, it's...manageable. Belos assures me he can heal it, but he has a lot on his plate now and when he's ready, he'll let me know" Eda rubbed a thumb over the label of the bottle

It was taking more elixir to combat her curse, counting her morning dose and this...she had consumed 5 bottles today. Her magic was also steadily becoming less potent from holding back the curse. There was some this else as well but it eluded her at the moment

"Hey, it's gonna be okay, trust me" Eda said "we'll bounce back from this"

* * *

  
  


Amity stood outside the castle and fidgeted with her fingers nervously. Her parents had made a rare helpful suggestion to aid her in getting closer to Luz...Amity would become Edalyn's second student, which would allow her to spend more time with Luz.

Amity's face pinked a little at the thought, she was still determined to own this as something for herself rather than for her parents. 

The drawbridge extended and allowed her passage. Kikimora stood in the entry and guided Amity to where Eda was. In the training hall, she saw Eda teaching Luz new spells, as she walked in, she saw Eda casting a lightning spell, and Luz copied the glyph onto a small sheet of paper, before performing the spell herself.

Seeing Eda react to how Luz progressed made her feel a bit sad, Eda was a clearly loving mother to the human, something Amity dearly desired in her life.

Luz waved to Amity and she shyly waved back.

“You must be Amity Blight, Luz has told me about you” Eda crossed her arms behind her back “I received a request from your parents to train you. So show me what you’re capable of” Eda gave her signature smile that made her gold fang glint in the light as if it were glowing.

Amity drew her spell circle and cast a pink fireball at a training dummy

  
  
  



	5. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eda and Lilith reunite after 24 years apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here ya go, the gusher chapter

Amity’s training was going extraordinarily well, her magic began to improve greatly under Eda’s tutelage. Occasionally, Eda caught her staring at Luz, and rather than offer discipline for being distracted, she gave her a knowing smirk like Willow, and gave her gentle nudges to pay attention again.

Eda was unlike any tutor Amity had worked under, Eda was kind and caring in ways Amity was unsure she was deserving of. When Amity would mess up and automatically begin to fear discipline, Eda would tell her she could make mistakes, and that she could grow from them. When she would be late to training, Eda would tell her that it didn’t matter if she was late, and she would always wait for her. 

The three took a break from training one day, enjoying tea, coffee and biscuits. Luz was not taking dairy creamer in her drink, with her lactose intolerance and all.

“I don’t understand Ms. Clawthorne, you’re not like many teachers” said Amity that day “you’re like Professor Crow, you care about us first, before the work”

Eda looked up from her newspaper and smiled “she sounds like how my sister was in my youth” she folded the paper up and folded her hands together “she cared about me even when I made tremendous mistakes in learning. You have to support students in all their endeavors, if they fall, you help them back up and say ‘that’s alright, try again’ or you don’t help them learn, you just teach them to fear failure”.

“My parents would disagree” Amity looked into her tea cup sadly and took a sip

“Sounds like your parents have less brain cells than an amoeba” Eda snarked

Amity snorted and nearly spat out her tea before erupting into a fit of giggles, her face flushed.

Luz was mesmerized, Amity’s laugh sounded so beautiful, so...her.

Eda looked at the two and smirked again.

  
  


Over in the Owl House, Lilith sat before her desk, a sheet laying upon it’s lacquered wood surface, and a purple envelope off to the side. Today was the day...it was time to reveal herself, and so she began writing 

* * *

  
  


_ 26 years ago _ …

Eda and Lilith were laughing together in the woods around the Owl House, chasing Hooty as he stretched around the trees. They’d made a game of this, seeing how long they could get Hooty to stretch and stopping when the sun began to set.

80 meters was the new record today, Lilith won the bet and Eda chased her after Lilith splashed her with Abomination goo. The chase ended at their usual late day meeting spot, a tree in a clearing with an odd knot that resembled the face of an elderly witch, they called it “the wood with the old man’s face”.

  
  


“Hey, have you ever thought about what would happen if we got separated?” Eda pondered aloud “and then we never see each other again?” This was a fear of hers when considering a notion that they might not get to meet up again after possibly joining separate Covens.

“Pfft, don’t be silly Edalyn! There’s no way the Clawthorne sisters would never get to see each other again! And even if we do get separated, we’ll send each other a note to meet here”. She patted the tree

“And I’ll be here too! Hooty hoot hoot!!” Hooty moved closer and the sisters hugged him while laughing

  
  


_ Now… _

Eda was tired, oh so tired. She had been in a meeting with the other Coven Leaders in the city. It was an annual thing and it was always emotionally-taxing, especially considering that Odalia Blight was in attendance. She’d heard enough from Amity about her to know that she was an incredibly awful person, forcing Amity to conform to a rigid standard and raising the girl specifically as an offering to Belos and the Emperor’s Coven. 

Eda wanted Amity to have her own agency, and not have to conform to the wants of a family that offered no love except from the elder Blight siblings.

One of Eda’s subordinates quickly approached her and saluted, in his opposite hand was a purple envelope

“Might I inquire as to what that envelope is?” she asked

“Coven Leader, it’s addressed to you” he said

Eda cocked an eyebrow and carefully took the envelope. On its front was her name, scrawled in neat handwriting that evoked some sense of familiarity in her, so she opened it. Inside was a note with a cryptic message written in black ink

“ _ Meet me at the wood with the old man’s face _ ” the note read. Eda tried to parse the statement...then her eyes widened in realization. She told her subordinates to return to the castle.

She flew faster then she had ever flown before in her life, she was sure she was pushing Owlbert to his absolute limit, but even he agreed that there was something much bigger on their minds.

Eda practically crash landed in the woods near the Owl House, and she started rushing about the trees, guided by the light of the moon. The woods had changed much over the years, though some of it was still recognizable. She didn’t want to stop and admire though, she was looking for a specific tree. After almost ten minutes of searching...she found it.

In the clearing

The tree with the funny knot

The wood with the old man’s face

“Hello...Edalyn…” said a voice, laced with caution

Eda’s breath caught in her throat and she slowly turned around to see a witch a little older than herself with straightened black hair, but her eyes were unmistakable. The eyes of Lilith Clawthorne

“Sister, I know you must have mixed feelings about seeing me...but I want you to know I am so, so sorry, Edalyn” tears began to form in Lilith’s eyes “I am so sorry and ashamed for putting you through all that grief and all that pain, and I-I don’t know if I can ever make it up to you and--”

Eda pulled her into a sudden hug “you’re here...you’re alive...my dear sister...my stupid, wonderful sister”

The Clawthorne sisters simply held onto each other as the tears flowed 


	6. Reforming Bonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilith and Eda begin to mend the old wounds in their familial relationship. Luz starts attending Hexside

Eda wasn’t sure how things would go the following morning, but after Luz had tumbled into her life nearly half a year ago, Eda had become the kind of witch who would take things even if they came completely out of left field.

Lilith confessed everything to Eda in the Owl House, she revealed that she had cursed Eda in their youth. It wasn’t for any malicious reason, Lilith had thought the curse would only take away Eda's magic for a day and it would be over. 

"I saw you one night...when your squad drained your magic to make you transform" Lilith said, hugging herself "it made everything I did seem tiny in comparison...are you truly okay with them using you like a weapon?"

"You...you saw?" Eda asked, bewildered 

"And I saw you at the Covention, when those two witches told you there was no cure for your curse" Lilith continued "I've regretted my decision every day since our duel…"

"Why didn't you come to me to tell me until now?" Eda's voice started to break "why did you let me suffer this curse for 24 years while you did who knows what?! Libby, for a decade I thought you were  _ dead _ "

"I wanted to tell you...I wanted to stand before you, get down on my knees and confess while begging for your forgiveness...but I was so afraid of what you would do after you found out...I thought you would kill me" Lilith said sadly

"Well I'm  _ pissed _ , but I'm not gonna kill you. You better have some stellar way to make up for what you did" Eda grumbled

“I will make amends for what I have done, Edalyn” she said “I’ve been trying to research potential cures for your curse when I have free time”

Eda  _ had _ noticed curse-related books strewn about the living room, bookmarks stuffed in various places, pages dogeared in specific sections. 

“I’ll hold you to it...but not now, I have to get back to the castle soon, or Belos’ll get suspicious” Eda stood to get up

“It was good...to see you again...maybe one day we can learn to be sisters again” Lilith said a smile returning to her face

  
  


"Oh, and one more thing" Eda called back from the door 

"Hm?"

" _ Liliam Crow _ ? That's really the name you went with for a disguise? Your old writing pseudonym?" Eda began chuckling

"I-! It-it sounded good at the time!!!" Lilith blushed furiously while Eda laughed harder

"Oh look it's Ms. Liliam in Potions, who also wrote self-indulgent romance stories in her youth!" Eda laughed and snorted, wiping a tear from her eye.

* * *

  
  


_ A mother’s calm voice turning to panic _

_ A screeching of brakes _

_ The shrill sound of metal scraping against metal _

_ Burning rubber _

_ The stench of blood _

_ The beeping of a heart monitor _

_ Dead silence _

Luz awoke in cold sweat, she had a very vivid nightmare again...of the accident that took her mother’s life. She got out of bed and took a walk to try and clear her thoughts. She stood on a balcony and looked out at the view.

She withdrew her Scroll, and texted Amity

“ _ Hey _ ” she typed

“ _ Hey _ ” came Amity’s response

“ _ Are you free? _ ” Luz texted back.The reply took a little long but it eventually came

“ _ Meet at the usual spot? _ ” Amity asked

“ _ Yes, it’ll take me a while tho _ ” Luz responded and went to leave a note on Eda’s desk. 

The older witch was sleeping soundly in her nest bed, her illusion masking removed, showing her artificial aging from the curse. When she was this asleep nothing could wake her

Luz made her way to the library on Owlbert. She used a spell scroll Amity had given her, letting her unlock the large wooden doors, slinking inside and making her way to the bookshelf switch.

Entering the room, she plopped down into one of the bean bag chairs and groaned. Amity arrived shortly after and sait in a neighboring chair and laid a hand on Luz.

“You alright?” she asked

Luz shook her head

"Wanna talk about it?" She tried not to pry too much, but she still wanted to know

"Had that bad dream again...about the accident" Luz turned her head and her eyes were moist.

Luz had told Amity once about the circumstances involving her mother's death, a vehicle collision that happened because of an inattentive tractor trailer driver. 

Amity ran her fingers through Luz's hair, making her hum happily and Amity's cheeks flushed a bit. 

* * *

Luz rode to Hexside the next day with Eda on Owlbert, wearing her brand-new Hexside uniform. She said "tell Liliam you-know-who said hi" for some reason, but Luz didn't dwell on it, she just looked for her friends and entered Hexside for the first time as a student 

During Luz's school day, Eda started thinking about what Lilith had said during their conversation in the Owl House, with a sense of uneasiness. 

" _ Are you truly okay with them using you like a weapon? _ ". Belos had promised to heal Eda of her curse, he had said so after she had joined, but that finding the right spell would take time. She was sure he had his reasons for taking so long, but the fact that her magic reserves were steadily running out more every day worried her.

  
  


Eda decided to bite the bullet and go ask Belos for an honest answer regarding the cure. She made her way through the corridors to the throne room, past the assorted pipes pumping some undetermined fluid to the centerpiece of the castle, the Titan's Heart.

She knocked on the heavy doors politely, but hard enough to be heard. The doors opened soon afterwards 

Belos was standing and speaking with the Abomination Coven leader, holding what seemed to be important documents and signing off on them. Eda seemed to have walked in on the tail-end of the talks, as Belos and the Coven head exchanged a short polite bow, before the latter exited the room, politely acknowledging Eda before the doors closed behind them.

"Ah, Edalyn, perfect timing, I was about to send for you" Belos said, sitting back down in his throne, the Heart beating steadily above him. 

"My Lord, if I may...I was going to ask something of you...regarding the cure to my curse" Eda said, taking a knee.

"Ah yes, your cure is at hand, but I must ask you to do something in return first" Belos said, holding out his hand and snapping his fingers.

A witch clad in Coven robes held a platter with a single scroll upon it, Eda took it. A unique wax seal signified that it was a high-priority order of arrest.

"It has come to my attention that your sister, Lilith Clawthorne, is very much alive and still on the Isles. Her location is written in the warrant" Belos said

Eda had to think fast "r-really?! That's wonderful!!" she said in faux surprise, which proved enough to fool Belos

"Indeed...now I want you to apprehend her, and bring her here for induction into my coven...after that, I will heal you of your curse. You have until midnight tomorrow".

  
  



	7. Stone Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eda must choose between her sister and her oath to Belos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is definitely not dead btw

”Tomorrow, My Lord?” Eda asked

“Did I misspeak, Edalyn?” Belos answered, a low, threatening growl laced in his voice

For the first time in a while, Eda felt terrified, small. “N-no, Emperor Belos...I simply don’t have faith I will be able to find her in time is all”. Sweat beaded on her forehead, her heart rate increased, and the large, cavernous throne room began to feel suffocatingly small.

“Is that so?” he asked

The silence that followed as he mulled her words over was absolutely deafening

“Very well, I shall grant you a larger time frame to bring your sister in, but I will only give you  _ two days _ at most. You know what lies in store for you should you succeed, but if you fail me…” his grip on the armrest of his throne tightened and the gigantic Titan heart above him began beating rapidly “you will be ejected from my Coven and branded as a heretic, a criminal, and a Wild Witch. I’m sure you don’t need a reminder of what I do to Wild Witches?”

An old wound on Eda’s arm, hidden beneath her sleeve, painfully flared up and her eyes darted between it and the floor “n-no”

“Excellent, you are dismissed” he said, and watched Eda leave

After the doors to his throne room closed, Belos turned to a subordinate of his, dressed in different Coven Robes, and wearing a golden owl mask.

“ I have a special assignment for you...keep an eye on the young human daughter of our esteemed Coven leader...I will need her for my plans” Belos ordered

The masked witch nodded and melted away into the shadows.

* * *

  
  


Eda sat in her quarters, holding the rolled parchment in her hands, Belos' words still replayed in her mind, he had ordered her to arrest Lilith...and in exchange he could heal the Coven leader of her curse. Part of Eda was relieved that there was a chance she could be freed of her affliction, but another part seemed to doubt his words. If he had the cure this close why did it take so long?

Lilith's suggestion that Belos was using Eda as a weapon was unnerving to say the least. Eda had to make a choice, she could either arrest Lilith and be healed, and possibly irreversibly damage her already fragile relationship with her estranged sister...or she could warn Lilith about the coming arrest and let her escape, but also succumb to the curse and be punished for her failure to follow orders. Either way, she had to go to Lilith, and have a seemingly uncomfortable conversation.

  
  
  


Luz was performing very well in school, to everyone's surprise, and to the annoyance of others, particularly Boscha who was being upstaged in Potions by the new human student. She wanted to get back at the girl so badly, but the only thing stopping her was the fact that Luz's mother was the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles aside from the Emperor, and nobody who valued their life would risk Edalyn Clawthorne’s ire.

  
  


Worst of all, the human was starting to draw in her friends. Amity had been the first to stop hanging out with the Grudgby captain, then Skara and Bow, and the human's friend group grew while Boscha's shrank.

  
  
  
  


Boscha knew there was one way that she could take out her frustrations on Luz, while also sparing herself from being disintegrated by the leader of the Emperor’s Coven...Grudgby. Boscha went all-out in dramatic flair and challenged Luz in the middle of the hallway.

  
  


"Human! I challenge  _ you _ to a game of Grudgby!" she announced

"Uh...why?" Luz tilted her head "is this because you're jealous of me?"

"N-No, as if! If I win, you have to stop upstaging me in class and relinquish your title as top student to me, and if you win, I leave you alone on this issue" Boscha grinned, thinking she had laid out a perfect plot.

Luz exchanged a glance with Amity before turning back to face Boscha, for a moment it seemed that Luz was approaching the 3-eyed Witch to accept her challenge, but what she did next surprised everyone. In the amount of time Luz had been at Hexside, she'd gained a rep as having tremendous impulse and bravado when it came to challenges or other difficult tasks.

But Luz laid her hand over Boscha's and lowered it "no thanks, I'm not really an athlete by any measure. I'm fine enough enjoying Grudgby from the stands" she said with a smile. "Good presentation though"

Luz left with her friends and Boscha was left standing dumbfounded and fuming in the hallway.

* * *

Lilith was watering the flowers in her office when she heard a knock at the door

“You may enter” she said, and turned to face Amity, which surprised her “Amity, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Can….can I talk with you?” she asked almost quietly

“Certainly, my door is always open for you” she pulled a chair up in front of her desk and offered it to Amity “is there something on your mind?”

“Have...have you ever had strong feelings about someone?” she asked, fidgeting with her hands in her lap "but you were too afraid to act on them?"

Lilith knew enough about Amity’s parents to know that they likely never had a talk like this. 

“Is this about Luz?” asked Lilith, and the blush on Amity’s face was confirmation enough

"Yes, I had feelings for someone when I was your age...well, a little older, but I had a future planned for myself and I pushed them away to attempt a pursuit at a place in the Emperor's Coven" Lilith said

"You tried to join?" Amity asked

"I did...but there was only one place available and someone else close to me won the position instead and so I ran away. I ended up never confessing my feelings to that special someone and missed a chance to have a future with them" Lilith looked Amity in the eyes with a serious look on her face "if you like Luz more than as a friend I encourage you to act on those feelings, or you might never get the chance"

Amity felt a bit sad...but also a bit emboldened with more confidence regarding her feelings.

"Ms. Crow, if it isn't too rude to ask, who was the person you had feelings for?"

“Promise you won’t freak out?” Lilith asked

“O-of course” Amity replied

"Your mother, actually"

“What?!” Amity gawked

Lilith giggled a little at her response

* * *

Eda made the trek to the Owl House once more, feeling all kinds of discomfort about the coming conversation she was to have. Lilith was the only member of her family left on the Isles besides Luz, and they had only just patched their relationship recently. 

Approaching the house from the back, she knocked on the door hesitantly. Lilith answered the door, and let Eda in after seeing the look on her face. 

“He wants me to take you in, Lily” Eda said “I have two days at most”

“What happens if you do what he says?” Lilith asked in a small voice

“He tells me he’ll induct you into the Coven, and then he’ll heal my curse” Eda fidgeted with her hands

“And if you don’t?” Lilith asked, a hint of fear in her voice

Eda’s silence was not reassuring, especially when she nervously wrung her hands together and fear was evident on her face.

The siblings were quiet for a while after that, ten minutes passed before Lilith broke the silence

“Theoretically, I could turn myself in and save us all the trouble” she suggested

“If you had said that weeks ago I might agree...but now I’m not so sure...Belos claims he has a cure on hand in exchange for my success, but that means he’s been holding onto it this whole time and I don’t know how I feel about that” Eda leaned back into the couch

“What are you suggesting?” Lilith asked

“I...I don’t know...like maybe I’m starting to see him for who he really is? But he wouldn’t do this to someone he knows he needs, right?”

“Edalyn...I wanted to believe that too, I did at one point...but that night I saw you with your team, and how they made you turn...I knew it was a lie. He only wants your power, Edalyn, he doesn’t care about you”

“What do we do?” Eda asked

* * *

  
  


The day that followed had Lilith on edge at school, now that the Emperor knew she was alive, she felt like a thousand eyes were watching her every move. Worse was the confirmation that Belos had a special agent who was on near-equal footing with Eda, but had none of the publicity that came with being the leader of the Emperor’s Coven. Lilith had a feeling they were in the school, watching her and waiting for the moment she slipped up. So she composed herself and went through the motions she did every day like things were normal, despite every once in a while feeling a piercing gaze fixated on her.

Lilith worried about Luz, she theorized that Belos was going to use her to his advantage as insurance to be sure Eda succeeded, but she sincerely hoped that the thought was just her being paranoid….until she heard a voice speak a single sentence to her.

“ _ We know where you are, Lilith _ ” it said as if right into her ear

She turned around sharply and saw no one beside her. She wiped sweat from her forehead, her hands were shaking rather noticeably. She hoped she could make it through the day, but now she kept looking over her shoulder.

Potions class went along smoothly enough, and today was one of the days Luz took Potions. Lilith looked at Luz with worry, and swore under her breath she'd do whatever it took to keep her human niece safe

  
  


* * *

  
  


Eda had a rare day off, with all the work she'd done for the Coven, Kikimora relayed that the Emperor had given her permission to spend a day on herself. Eda wasn't sure where this sudden gesture came from, but she wasn't about to complain, and thus she took Luz with her to spend some quality mother and daughter time. Eda wore a disguise to avoid being recognized in public.

They went to a carnival together, and rode many of the rides, ate more food than they could remember, and got souvenirs to mark this day as special. After the carnival, Eda took Luz to visit a shop that specializes in custom handcrafted magical items. Eda had commissioned a wand for her daughter, similar to a training wand, but richly made. It was made of materials from both the Human Realm, and from the Boiling Isles. Rosewood was used to make the grip and ended with a brass pommel. Witches Steel formed the housing for the wand’s core, and the same wood Eda had crafted her palisman from formed the shaft. In the core, resided the feather of a Phoenix, a rare creature native to the Isles. Unlike training wands which required recharging, this wand would draw power directly from the radiant magical energy of the Isles.

Luz hugged Eda tightly and thanked her before they left the shop, both unaware of their observers in the shadows.

* * *

Their last stop of the day was the Owl House, Luz knew well enough that Liliam Crow lived here, but didn’t know Eda knew. Eda claimed that the two of them were old acquaintances and that they didn’t visit each other often, so this was as good a chance as any to pay a visit to the witch. Luz excitedly greeted Ms. Crow, and showed her the wand Eda had gifted her while they had tea and chatted. Luz noticed that Eda dropped her sophisticated facade around the teacher, though she didn't know the significance, she assumed they were close enough that Eda could drop her defenses around her.

“They gave you a day off?” Lilith asked

“Yeah, I was surprised too, but I decided to make the most of it and use that time to be with Luz all day. But it seemed rather sudden if you ask me” Eda said

“We should be careful...if there’s anything I know about Belos, it’s that he’ll use any opportunity to his advantage no matter how small” Lilith said, glancing towards the front door

“Hey, come on, we’re the two strongest witches on these Isles, what could happen?” she asked

Suddenly a sound of wood shattering came from the back door, breaking any chain of thought the two had. Before Eda could react, a purple and black magic seal of complex design materialized beneath her and Lilith, blocking off their magic and quickly incapacitating them.

“ _ Congratulations, Edalyn _ ” said the voice of the assailant

Eda froze sharply, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she looked up to see Belos himself standing before them.

“ _ Lilith Clawthorne _ , it is a pleasure to finally meet you in the flesh” he said, though the mask obscured his face, his tone made it evident he was sneering “for the crime of acting as a Wild Witch, and for the refusal to join a coven as required by law, I personally place you under arrest. Thank you for leading the way, Edalyn”

As quickly as he had arrived, he left with Lilith, leaving Eda and Luz alone in the Owl House.

* * *

The next morning, Lilith’s arrest was announced to the Isles, as well as the declaration of her punishment...she would be petrified at sundown in the Conformatorium.


	8. Taken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz and the gang concoct a plan to rescue Lilith

After the announcement, Luz and her friends sat in silence in the Owl House. They were lost for words after what happened. They were still shocked at the revelation that the Potions Teacher turned out to be the formerly-missing Lilith Clawthorne, but now she was about to be sentenced to death in less than 24 hours. 

Eda had left for the castle after receiving summons from Belos, and thus the kids were left to their own devices.

Amity was still in disbelief that the very same teacher who had been there for her at school, was also the same witch whose face was emblazoned upon countless Missing Person posters across the Isles

“What do we do? I can’t just let my aunt die like this” Luz said. The realization that Lilith was her aunt was still something she was trying to wrap her head around

“We could break her out?” Gus suggested, surprising everyone

Gus brought up his plan, which took about ten minutes to run through, and by the time he finished, the reactions were...mixed.

Luz wanted to let Eda in on the plan so that she could help them, though Gus and Willow reminded her that she mentioned Belos incapacitated her  _ and _ Lilith. If they were going to do this, they had to do it themselves.

Amity was not fully sure about everything, but she knew that even though Lilith lied about who she was, the kindness she showed the young Blight was genuine, and she was willing to risk angering her parents to save the one adult role model in her life who treated her the way a mother should treat their child. Eda had done so much for her, as had Lilith, even Luz...bright, joyful, wonderful Luz, had helped Amity break free of her shell, inspired her to become her own person, and realize a bravery she never knew she possessed, and now Amity wanted to repay that generosity and kindness in full.

They began to make preparations.

* * *

At the castle, Lilith was being held in the dungeons, where she would remain until the moment she was to be taken to the Conformatorium. Eda and Belos were speaking outside her cell, and the powerful Emperor proudly stated his real intentions.

  
  


"Sir, now that my sister is in custody, will I be healed as you've promised?" Eda asked

  
  


Belos chuckled "oh, I will not be healing you, Edalyn" he said "your abilities in your cursed form are far too valuable to me" 

  
  


"Wh-what?! But...but you promised!" Eda said

  
  


"Don't be so naive, Edalyn, this is the Titan's will. All Wild Witches must be culled. They are a blight upon the Isles. Now unless you wish to endure the same fate, I suggest you drop this...you wouldn't want anything to happen to your darling daughter, now would you?" Belos spoke his threat in a calm tone, but Eda felt like she could see a sadistic smile behind the man's mask

"N-No, Emperor Belos…" Eda's ears dropped and she hid away her look of fear

"Good, I'm glad we came to an understanding...I am off to see to the preparations... don't spend too much time with the prisoner" Belos said, taking his leave

Once he was gone, and sure to not hear them, Eda turned to Lilith. "I'm so sorry, Lily.. I'm...I'm gonna find a way to fix this" she sighed shakily as Lilith slept in her cell.

"I won't let anything happen to you"

* * *

Hours passed, and soon a crowd of Bonesborough residents and certain public figures gathered on the courtyard to watch the petrification. Gus and Willow mixed in with the crowd and reviewed their parts of the plan. Gus and Willow were going to try and rally the crowd against the Emperor, while Luz and Amity performed their part of the plan, since the group had split in pairs, they could only hope the two had stuck to their part.

Luz and Amity crept through the halls. Luz lit the way with her wand as they searched for Lilith. They found it odd that there were no witches from the Emperor's Coven anywhere aside from the garage where prisoners were brought in. 

They would've asked for directions, but Luz had accidentally frozen Warden Wrath in a block of ice, so they had to guess where to go, which made things more stressful with their shrinking window of time until Lilith's public petrification.

They found a strange hall lined with giant axe-wielding figures and architecture that was completely different then anything on the Isles...save for the Witches Arena on The Knee. 

* * *

  
  


Eda was flying on Owlbert as fast as he could go. She was coming back from the Owl House, originally she was going to tell the kids the bad news, but came to find plans for a rescue mission strewn across the kitchen island. Now she was mentally beating herself up for not foreseeing this... _ of course _ Luz would pull something like this, how could she forget? She hoped she could get there in time before things could turn out worse.

* * *

  
  


Turns out things  _ could _ turn worse

Amity and Luz found Lilith, but they were too late, as the platform the older witch was chained to, became a cage, and she was raised into the air, to the stage where her execution would take place. 

Additionally, a strange witch arrived, wearing a gold avian mask and a white cloak. The three were soon locked in a 2 on 1 duel, with the two younger witches proving to be just as formidable together as a full-fledged adult witch. Luz’s skill with glyph magic was proven as she was just able to survive the spells thrown at her, until a grouping of three fire spells hit her bicep, burning through her top and leaving burn wounds on her arm that began to bleed. The fabric began to fuse into the burn.

  
  


Amity cast a healing spell in time before being knocked back by a wind spell. The wounds on Luz's arm were too deep to heal properly and healed as scars, and the fabric of her clothes were no longer fusing with her soft tissue.

“That’s quite enough, Odalia” came the voice of Belos

Amity froze in fear at the mere mention of her mother's name.

Belos emerged from the shadows, in his hands was a white and gold mechanical staff made of Witch’s Steel with a blade shaped like a wing. Mounted atop his staff where a Palisman would normally sit, was a glowing red orb of energy that made the girls feel uneasy even at a distance.

  
  


"I see you bravely came to save Lilith from certain death...a shame you're too late. In a matter of moments she will be petrified" he said

Luz read between the lines and sensed the unsaid 'but' "what do you want?" she asked

Belos chuckled "clever girl...why yes, there is something I want, and I am willing to release Lilith if you can give me what I want"

Luz asked "and what would that be?"

Belos pointed a gloved finger at her "you...I want you to give me the portal to the human realm"

Luz was caught off guard "why, so you can invade it and crush humans under your rule?"

Belos laughed "don't think of the Titan's will as so simple, I don't wish to invade your old home" 

"I have absolutely zero reason to trust what you say" Luz replied "I refuse"

"Perhaps...but you seem to be under the impression that you have a choice in this matter". He melted into the shadows again, but not before saying "do with them as you wish, but be sure they're still alive when you're through"

* * *

  
  


Eda arrived at the Conformatorium in time to see the cage rise up into view of the crowd, then the statue of the Idol of Stone rose, its eyes a golden glow. Eda was about to act when she saw the young Willow Park and Gus Porter rallying the crowd in favor of Lilith. Even some of the guards were taking Lilith's side it seemed.

Eda was surprised at this development and cracked a smile before she realized that Luz and Amity were nowhere to be seen. She departed to search for them, but not before casting a plant spell at the statue that enveloped it in thick vines, constricting it and crushing it as if it were paper mache.

Luckily nobody saw her, as they were focused on the destroyed statue.

* * *

  
  
  


Luz screamed as she clutched her formerly uninjured arm, a few meters away was what used to be her left arm, surrounded by a pool of blood. 

Odalia stood over her, a sick smile across her face while Amity was restrained by vines behind her, crying out her crush's name while tears flowed from her eyes. The older witch cursed at the injured human, blaming her for distracting Amity from 'her future' and delivered a solid kick to Luz's ribs, causing the 14 year old to cough up blood. Luz looked up at her tormentor.

"Do not look at me,  _ creature _ " she snarled "I should kill you here and now for attempting to sully the Blight name...but I won't…" she stepped on Luz's only remaining hand and drew a spell circle while she crushed the bones in Luz's wrist under her heel.

While Luz yelled out in pain, a portal appeared and she grabbed both the girls.

Eda arrived in time to see Odalia drag Amity through the portal before it disappeared into nothing, and in it's place was Luz's severed arm.

"NO! No no no no!" Eda shouted and shakily reached for the disembodied limb, which was just faintly warm.

* * *

  
  
  


At the Castle, Amity and Luz were healed of their injuries, just enough so they couldn't escape in any way, and then they were imprisoned in the dungeons.

"You just had to do things the hard way, didn't you?" Belos said through the cell bars "well, it won't matter in the end...I  _ will _ get what I want and you  _ will _ give it to me...but for now, rest"

As soon as he left, Luz, delierious from pain, tried to lighten the atmosphere with an attempt at humorous dialogue.

  
  
  


"Hey, l-look on the bright side….things could be worse" Luz said from her cell

"How could things possibly be worse?!" Amity asked

"At least we're not in Ohio"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Luz, what’s an Ohio?”


	9. A Risky Rescue pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belos attempts to get Luz to reveal the location of the portal door. Eda helps plan a rescue operation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the first two-parter chapter I've ever written, hopefully this goes well
> 
> CW: torture

Eda hid herself away in the master bedroom of the Owl House, clutched in her hands were stray scraps of cloth that had once been a part of Luz's clothes. She'd cried herself to sleep the previous night, imagining the absolute worst after seeing the severed arm on the floor of that hall.

Luz had wanted to save Lilith, and while Lilith was no longer in danger of death by stone, they'd lost both Luz and Amity like water through their fingers.

Eda had seen Odalia dragging Amity through a portal of Dark Magic, and given how warm Luz's arm had been, there was a chance that the Blight matriarch had taken her as well. Wherever that was…

* * *

Luz was tended to by the medics again after Odalia and Alador had put her through torturous interrogation. For reasons Belos would not divulge, they were trying to flush the human's circulatory system of human blood, and instead replace it with witch blood. Alador, being the more scientifically-minded of the two, suspected he was running experiments on the human, and chided himself for not thinking of doing the same thing.

The Blight parents were baffled as to how someone like her was chosen to be Edalyn's daughter of all children. Additionally, they were still annoyed that the human was able to cause Amity to stray from the path she was supposed to be set on--part of the reason they took some pleasure in torturing the human--but they also accepted that it seemed to be too late to put their youngest back on "the path", they had two other children to use for this purpose after all.

Luz's missing arm was being replaced with a magitech prosthesis, one that would be permanently grafted to her arm. In addition, the compatible witch blood coursing through her veins now replaced her human blood, and it was causing many changes in her body. Her ears became more pointed like a natural born witchling, and she was rather painfully growing a bile sack as her body changed to accommodate the new organ.

All the while, she was subjected to Alador's interrogations to find the location of the portal door. Amity was facing more psychological threats as Odalia told her gleefully what would happen once she pulled her away from the castle. Odalia was going to force Amity to sever any and all ties with her friends for good this time, and be punished severely if she disobeyed. 

At the end of the day, they were placed in their neighboring cells. Luz reached through the bars with her flesh and blood arm, and Amity took it, lacing their fingers together.

Sleep came for them as did some relief.

* * *

A week passed and they still hadn't been able to locate either of the girls. Edric offered his help, and Emira would've helped too, but she was "busy with things" and couldn't. 

Since his mother was involved in Luz and Amity's disappearance, Edric searched Blight Manor for any hints as to where she might have taken them. The house staff were eager to help, having more than enough reason to hate Odalia and Alador. 

Edric passed by something in the hallway that he hadn't seen before...a shimmer of an illusion spell. So with a quick twirl of his finger, he spelled a spell to dispel the spell and then the spell fell, revealing a door.

The door led to a study, the decor suggested it belonged to his mother. On the desk were papers pertaining to the Emperor's Coven. Some of it was about keeping Amity on the path to leading the EC, but one folder stood out to him, labeled with Luz's name and the front bore the Emperor's emblem. Leafing through it, he was horrified to find vividly detailed plans for experiments Belos wanted to run on the human. He suspected that father had told mother to hide it here. He heard a knock on the door, startling him, and he turned sharply to see his twin sister standing on the threshold.

"What are you doing Edric?" Emira asked, but something was off about how she asked. Her tone was demanding, accusatory. "What's that in your hands?"

He was about to respond, but noticed Emira start to draw a spell circle. Emira was fast, but over the years, Edric learned something..he was faster. He cast a blast of wind that knocked his sister backward and then bolted down the hallway. Illusion blasts were fired at him from behind as Emira tried to hit him, but kept failing, and Edric thanked the gods that he was one of the top students in athletic courses, his legs burned, but he was putting significant ground between himself and Emira. 

As soon as he reached the door, he threw down a smoke bomb and ran in the direction of the Owl House.

After Emira made it through the smoke, coughing into the sleeve torn from Edric’s wind blast. Under the sleeve on her arm, was the brand of the Emperor’s Coven.

Eda flipped through the folder, a mix of horror and rage upon her face. Belos was hurting her daughter and she neither knew why or could do anything about it...legally anyway. Edric shared his suspicion that his parents had given up on Amity joining the Coven and instead foisted it onto Emira. Lilith was sick to her stomach after hearing everything.

Eda clenched her fists “I’m gonna kill that bitch” she snarled

Lilith feared that this would cause her to transform, so she laid a hand on Eda’s arm and tried to calm her “let’s hope it doesn’t come to that...Odalia is many terrible things, but she doesn’t deserve death. She should be imprisoned along with her bastard of a husband…”

“So, what do we do?” Edric asked

“We make a plan to save Luz and your sister” Lilith said

* * *

  
  
  


Odalia pulled her sharp fangs from Luz’s arm, wiping the blood from her mouth and lickign it off her fingers “mmm, I haven’t had human blood in so long...the taste is sweet” she said before leaving the cell. They had to keep Luz weak enough so she would comply and not escape, so Odalia had been drinking from Luz so she would be “cooperative”.

A nurse quickly moved in to check on Luz, checking her vitals, the IV with witch blood inside, and making sure the teen didn’t pass out. Luz squinted at the healing witch and swore that she looked a lot like her biological mother.

“M-mami?” Luz asked

“No child, I am not your mother...though I can see why you might think that way. You’d be able to pass as my daughter for sure” she said. Her face fell “I’m so sorry for what they’re putting you through here” it seemed directed at both Luz and Amity.

“I haven’t given up hope that my mom is coming” said Luz “so I’m going to stay strong for her” 

Even under their less than stellar circumstances, Amity couldn’t help but admire how strong willed her crush was. Even in the suffocating dark of the dungeons, Luz’s smile shone like the brightest star, banishing away the consuming dread. Amity sighed dreamily, when this was over, she’d face Luz and tell her how she felt.

If they got out alive, that is…

* * *

“What is your report, Odalia?” asked Belos in the throne room

“The human proves to be more stubborn with each interrogation we subject it to. She will not reveal the location of the portal door to us” she looked down at the floor, expecting the emperor to be angry with her but…

“Interesting...this is an invaluable result, Odalia. Humans are clearly more resilient than we thought. Well done” Belos said

Odalia quietly sighed in relief

“However, I will be taking over the interrogation now. Your dark magic and Alador’s instruments of totrure will only get so far...observe” he gestured to a large glass container holding a writhing inky mass inside “this is a pet of mine that has been in storage for some time, it will give us the answers we need”

He carried the container to the dungeons, as they drew closer to their destination, the creature inside grew more restless and writhed harder. Arriving in Luz’s cell, she was cuffed and lifted into the air by a chain while Belos opened the container.

“Open her mouth” he said, retrieving a tentacled creature from its glass prison. 

Luz struggled against her bonds but it was for naught, as Belos let the thing slither into her open mouth. She yelled in surprise and pain as it moved around inside her esophagus and stomach, until it seized control over her vocal cords and then her mind.

“Good, now tell me, where are you?” he asked, as test to see if the creature was situated correctly

“T-the dungeons of your castle” Luz said, her voice slightly off as the creature controlled her.

“Good, now tell me how you arrived to the Isles over a year ago”

“I ran from home and entered through a portal door” Luz replied

“And...where is this portal door?” he asked, circling her like a vulture

“The SOutern Coast” Luz replied “that's where I learned my glyphs for the first time”

“Hmm…, who taught you these glyphs?” he asked, genuinely curious

“The Isles showed me in things, sometimes they came to me in dreams”:

“That’s enough now” he snapped his fingers and the thing slithered out of Luz’s mouth, making her cough hard. The chains slackened and Luz layed on the floor.

“Send my best witches to the Southern Coast and search for the door. We have what we need” Belos ordered before leaving to return for the throne room

  
  


Luz felt strange and slimy after the creature incident and would for a while, though holding Amity’s hand was calming and made her chest feel warm. She felt her cheeks grow warm too

* * *

Eda, Lilith, Gus, Willow, and Edric stood atop a hill overlooking the castle, they were far enough away that the guards wouldn’t spot them. Their plan was to have a distraction so that the Emperor’s Coven was busy fighting them, while Eda and Edric snuck inside to rescue Luz and Amity. But in the middle of their discussion, they saw a platoon of witches race off somewhere to the South. They realized this would make their plan go by easier, now that they had less witches to deal with than before, and so they set it into motion.

Lilith hurled a spell at the castle and then told Gus and Willow to be ready to fight. It didn’t take long for the coven witches to charge at them and start the battle. Just as they planned, Eda and Edric made their way to the dungeons, Eda figured Belos was going to keep the girls in a deeper area of the dungeons, so she started the search there. So many emotions flooded her, anger, sadness and confusion...all would be sorted out once she knew what they had been captured for.

It took a solid 8 minutes for them to find what they were looking for, Eda literally ripped the cell doors off their hinges before she embraced her daughter in a tearful hug. Off to the side, Edric and Amity did the same. But though a week of being apart was excruciating and they needed more time, they couldn’t, they didn’t know when Belos would decide to come down here, or how long their distraction would last, so they needed to leave.

A bolt of illusion lightning hit the wall behind them and they saw, in the doorway, Emira Blight dressed in the robes of the Emperor’s Coven. 

“Going somewhere?” she asked in an uncharacteristically cold tone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter: Eda makes a decision to defeat Belos by improvising with an old trick


	10. Risky Rescue pt.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eda makes a decision to defeat Belos by improvising with an old trick in the Owl House

_ 1 week ago _ …

Emira was summoned to Alador's study, there she found both her parents conversing about something in hushed voices, before they noticed her. Odalia's usual icy stare pierced into Emira as she was called to enter the room.

"Y-you wished to speak with me, mother?" Emira asked 

Odalia explained to Emira that Amity was spending far too much time around the human, and thus she strayed from the predetermined path they had set for her. "As your sister has decided to reject our generosity...you will be taking her place in the Emperor's Coven" she spoke it as if it were absolute, and Emira would have no say in the matter.

Emira tried to conceal any sign of protest within her, for fear of a backhanded slap from her mother, who was wearing a rather jagged looking ring today.

"I know you are thinking of disobeying me, and so I have some... incentive to ensure your compliance" she snapped her fingers and two Coven witches in their white robes drug in an injured Viney, barely conscious and blood running down her face from a head injury.

"Viney!!" Emira shouted and tried to make her way over to her, but Odalia held her by the shoulder with a vice-like grip.

"She is still alive...for now, and she will stay that way so long as you do and act as I say without question" she leaned down to speak directly into Emira's ear "Am. I. Understood?" with a hiss.

Emira's hands felt clammy and her heart pounded in her ears "y-yes... mother" Emira finally said, her eyes darted quickly to the razor sharp fangs.0

"Take that peasant down to the cellar and lock her in a cell. Then take my daughter to the Emperor's Castle so she may be inducted into the Coven" Odalia ordered.

Before sunset had even passed, Emira’s arm had been branded with the symbol of the Coven, and fitted with her new robes. Additionally she was forced to agree to an Everlasting Oath with her mother that she would obey the emperor no matter what as long as she lived. If she even stepped a toe out of line, Odalia would know immediately and have Viney killed.

Emira developed a rather cold personality over the week, due to suppressing herself, until she wasn't even sure her old self even existed anymore.

* * *

  
  


_ Now… _

Emira's hands were wreathed in bright arcs of lightning as she stared down her siblings and the Clawthornes. 

"Emira...why?" Amity asked, her voice small and fearful

"I had no choice, Amity…if you had just done as mother and father had told you, I wouldn't be like this" she said "this is your fault"

The words stung Amity terribly. Edric stepped in front of his younger sister and bared his teeth "leave Mittens out of this, Em. I don't know what happened to you, but that was uncalled for, snap out of it"

"Like I have a choice…" Emira mumbled, before sending blasts of lightning at them.

Eda conjured a bubble shield that protected them from the bright blue bolts. "Retreat to the Owl House!!" she shouted, loud enough for Emira to hear, before they flew away on Owlbert and Sapphire.

Emira relayed where their fugitives were going, to Belos himself, and they prepared two platoons of witches for their assault.

Belos would lead the attack, and Emira would be at his side. Maybe she could have peace afterwards.

  
  


At the Owl House, Willow enveloped Luz and Amity in a crushing bear hug. Gus embraced them with help from his illusion clones. They wished they could spend more time catching up, but Eda told them that they had to be ready for the coming attack. 

* * *

  
  


An hour passed, and just as Eda said, the Coven arrived, though she was not expecting Belos to be among them. Eda stood in front of the open door to the house.

"You are making a mistake, Edalyn" said Belos "if you surrender now all will be forgiven and I won't have to make things difficult"

"Like I’d trust anything you say " she said

Belos moved forward to grab Eda, but she retreated inside, prompting him and his witches to follow….their mistake.

  
  


"HOOTY, NOW!!!" Eda shouted once they were all inside.

The door slammed shut instantly and Hooty made some shrill noise before something new happened. The inside of the house suddenly expanded. 

The kids were in awe at the new space, while Eda bore a triumphant smile on her face and hugged Lilith tightly.

"It worked Lily!!!! Ha!!" She shouted "that practice run before was worth it!"

"Practice run?" asked Willow

"Remember the Secret Room of Shortcuts back at Hexside?" Eda asked. The kids nodded "well, Lily and I made it as a practice run for making  _ this _ " she held out her arms "the Infinity Fortress, and the only place on the Isles that Belos has no power over in the slightest”.

* * *

Belos looked around his surroundings as he processed what had happened. The energy of this place bore the faint traces of Eda's magic. He knew she was a powerful witch, but he never expected that she was ever capable of something like this…creating an entire pocket dimension. He theorized that the size of this realm was large enough to fit the entirety of the Boiling Isles, if not more, comfortably. 

He commanded his forces to fan out in groups of four to cover more ground faster, and to use any means necessary to neutralize their quarry…even if they had to kill. He intentionally made sure Eda would not get the message.

  
  


Emira had been separated from the others, and she was unable to pinpoint where they were, as sound carried strangely in this realm. She noticed the bind of her Everlasting Oath was extremely weak here, she thought it odd. And then something in her broke, she curled up into a ball and let her tears flow.

Belos' telepathic command to the coven members reached her ears She quickly stood up and panicked, she had to find them first before the coven did.

  
  
  


As they traveled through the fortress, Luz experimented with her new magical abilities and her prosthetic arm. Belos might be an evil tyrant, but she’d be damned not to admit that he had excellent craftsmen under his command. According to the files Edric had swiped, the arm had built in weaponry and would be capable of altering itself as she grew and aged, hinting that this arm was perhaps the most advanced thing produced by the coven. She figured that they’d try to modify its appearance later to change the E.C. aesthetic to something more tailored to her own tastes. 

Luz’s first spell was for light, she supposed that was symbolic, as her name meant ‘light’, so she drew a spell circle for light with her finger and closed her eyes, expecting something to blow up...but instead she saw a floating orb of light, warm, and she was transfixed.

“I just did magic” Luz said before pumping her fist in the air “I just did magic!!”

Amity covered Luz’s mouth and tried to shush her, succeeding, but also making Luz flush.

They heard rapid footsteps approaching and Amity withdrew her hand to be ready to draw a spell circle, Luz drew her wand, holding it ready, its tip glowing. Around the corner came Emira, looking frazzled and sweaty. 

Amity cast a blast of flame at her which Emira only  _ just _ dodged.

Edric threw water jets at Emira, which would have hurt her if she hadn’t cast a barrier spell

“Wait! I just want to talk!!” she shouted

“Talk to the glyph, witch!” Luz slapped a plant glyph onto the floor and bound Emira in a thick shell of vines.

She broke free after using a dozen spells to free herself, but not without draining her magic significantly.

Luz cast a binding spell that wrapped the Blight in a magical purple rope. 

Edric enveloped his hand in fire and prepared to throw it.

“Wait! Please!!” she begged

“You threw yourself in with a tyrannical murderer” Eda said with a hiss “and you tried to kill us, so sorry if we don’t feel like listening to you at the moment”

“Belos is going to kill all of you!! Emira blurted out

“What?” Willow

“He told all of us, but he made sure Eda wouldn’t hear it” she said “ I came to find you first”

“Why, so  _ you _ can do it instead?” Gus asked in a strangely venomous tone “to curry favor with your overlord?”

“So I could  _ warn _ you!!” Emira

“How can we possibly trust you?” asked Lilith

“Because I wouldn’t risk my neck just to lie,” she said. “Mom...has Viney” she confessed earning shocked looks from the group “she found her and had her brought in...unconscious...bleeding real bad...said she’d keep her alive if I did what she told me to do...she even had to take an Everlasting Oath to make sure I did as she said” she was able to show the glowing band around her wrist, showing that she was under the effects of the oath, and that she was telling the truth.

Now Amity was lost for words, the anger she felt towards her sister was gone, replaced with a greater anger towards her mother then she’d had before. 

“I think I might have an idea” said Luz and she shared said idea

The pocket dimension was irritatingly complex and difficult to navigate, Belos thought. He had no influence over this domain, meaning he had few options to navigate aside from walking. He couldn’t teleport to cross great distances here, and Belos found himself suffering the consequences of never leaving his castle...he was running low on energy. The powerful witch was, as the humans say, “out of shape” and was soon leaning against railings and walls to keep himself from collapsing out of exhaustion. ”Was this Edalyn’s plan?” he asked himself “to let him wear himself out? Win via wearing him down by attrition? She knew he needed to feed on magic to stay strong, so this wasn’t too far fetched of a theory.

“I did not build an empire just to see it turn to dust...because I was too exhausted to stop it” he said between breaths, crushing the handrail he leaned against with his grip. He ordered one of his witches to come before him, and then he drained them of their magic down to the last drop, reinvigorating himself before they continued their hunt.

  
  
  


Luz was nervous, this was about to be the first time she ever even thought about attempting what she was about to do for this plan. When she first arrived, something like this was only a fantasy, but now it might just work. It all hinged on how she first learned glyph magic, sure it appeared in nature, but the key was  _ how _ it had been conveyed to her...by the Titan itself.

It was a shot in the dark, hoping the dead creature would save the day, but at the moment it was all they had. 

“Let’s do this” Luz said

“HEY!! LORD BONEHEAD!!” shouted Eda

Belos heard the shout and looked for the source, in the corner of his eye, he saw it, Eda Clawthorne, taunting him. Annoyance bubbled up inside him quickly and he yelled in frustration. He blasted part of the fortress with a beam of magic energy to let out his anger and to try and intimidate them. Of course it only resulted in Eda further taunting him, calling him out on his failures, making him angrier as the fortress repaired the damage he had caused. 

He used magic again, but now he flew through the fortress to find and directly confront Eda and the others. When he did, he unleashed powerful spells while his eyes shone bright blue in his anger.

Willow, Edric, and Gus used a mix of Illusion and Plant magic to fight the emperor, noticing that their magic was much stronger here than on the Isles. Amity used her fire magic, and her normal fire spell was boosted.

Belos used his own magic to reflect the spells back to their sources, the casters only just dodging them. This continued for a while, Belos shooting off his red magic and dispelling that of his foes. But then Eda noticed something

Aside from oddly dropping his staff, Belos was getting sluggish, like he was exhausted, and his spells were getting weaker. He unceremoniously reached for one of his coven witches and prepared to drain them of their magic

  
  


To stop him, Luz froze him in ice, save for his head, and silently asked for the Titan to judge the tyrant. Luz drew a purple spell circle and a gateway materialized beneath the tyrant, pulling him inside. 

On the other side, Belos was confronted by the spirit of the Titan itself, who harshly berated the witch for his actions. The Titan saw fit to keep Belos here, cut off from the magic of the Isles, and unable to cause further harm to the people.

They would leave him, but not before they took something from him to prove his defeat. Luz took Belos’ mask and Eda carefully took his staff, before commanding Hooty to separate the Owl House to normal. In a flash, they were back in the Owl House as if nothing bad had happened, well, save for the very confused looking coven guards standing around, who they shooed away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: the Infinity Fortress Is based on the Dimensional Infinity Fortress from Demon Slayer


	11. Family

The witches who had been under Belos' command prior to his entering the Owl House, were very confused after returning from the southern regions of the Isles, at first afraid of angering their leader with their empty-handedness. To return and find that their powerful Emperor had been defeated by a child, blessed by the Titan no less, was not anything close to what they expected.

The fight in the Infinity Fortress was still raw in their minds, and Eda suggested they take some time to relax after expending themselves that much. They stayed in the Owl House during this time, with new rooms added to accommodate the increase in residents. Tomorrow they would tackle the whole situation with Odalia and Alador among other things.

* * *

To say the heads of house Blight were baffled by Belos' sudden radio silence was an understatement, and now that the experiment files and records were suddenly missing from Odalia's hidden study, they were greatly concerned. The folder bore the Blight's seal and they could be ruined for life because of its mere presence outside the confines of the manor. They couldn't find the culprit, even after thoroughly searching the manor and repeated interrogations of the staff.

Emira bursts into the room sans her Coven regalia, suddenly. "Let Viney go!!" she demanded

Odalia smirked and wagged her finger "tsk tsk, daughter, demanding something of me? You forget your place...and your oath" lifting her hand to show the bind glowing around her wrist.

"That's not going to be a problem anymore" Emira replied, a smug grin across her face. She held up her own arm that the binding was once wrapped around, a bandaged stump now in its place, cut just below where the bind had been.

Odalia panicked, ordering the mercenaries she hired to kill the girl who was still locked up in the basement. Emira stood in front of the door to block the hired goons from exiting.

"Oh, how _brave_ " Odalia hissed, her vampiric fangs glinting in the light like two daggers. "Whatever can you possibly do, daughter? You cannot win, these are the strongest sell-swords on the Isles, and your father and I are both elite witches"

"You were'' Emira replied "and then you trained me" she smirked, causing Odalia's grin to fade. Her fingers were a blur as she made two spell circles that created illusionary bindings and restrained her parents. They might be powerful, but she was faster, and that was all that counted.

The mercenaries were good, but she was better. If there was anything good to come out of this, it was that Odalia did help her grow stronger in her physical and magical abilities.

After arriving in the basement, Emira used a flame spell to cut the chains holding the cell closed, and then did the same with the restraints holding her beloved.

Emira caught the unconscious beast keeping witch and carried her bridal style out of the mansion

* * *

News of Belos’ defeat was quick to spread, especially since Eda knew the right people to convey the message, such as one Perry Porter. The Council of Nine was in chaos and began to flounder without a leader and the strange absence of Alador Blight and his wife Odalia Blight, the current leaders of the Abomination and Illusion Covens respectively. But lucky for them, a leader came in the form of one Lilith Clawthorne. She agreed to serve as an interim leader until things could be sorted out, mainly how the Isles would be governed from now on. Additionally, the documents of the experiments Alador and Odalia ran were released publicly, and sure enough ruined the Blight heads for good. They were convicted on all charges against them...the kidnapping, experimentation, the years upon years of child abuse.

After the trial, Emira, Edric, and Amity sat outside the courthouse in a daze. They were free...truly free of their parents. It almost didn't feel real to them. The three siblings went back to Blight Manor and gathered all the things most important to them…before setting the house on fire.

Pink flames easily ate through the dry wood of the old manor house, providing purgative release as they remembered every last horrible thing committed in those walls. The three stayed until the house was naught but a smoking pile of ashes, and then they left it for the last time, never looking back.

* * *

All of the gang was invited for a celebratory feast in the Owl House, following Odalia and Alador’s hearing. 

So as the spread was laid out, Amity couldn’t help but think about the whole notion of family. 

Family...it's a familiar and yet strange thing all at once. 

It's the people you're born with...the people you share your most joyous laughter with...the people you can lean on when you shed tears…

Family can also hurt you in ways that cut deeper than any dagger could hope...or burn stronger than any fire could to flesh

But family transcends blood ties, and the bonds you make of your choosing can be even stronger than that with your blood relatives. 

As Amity looked over the table, she saw not the stiff, quiet dinners of Blight Manor….there were no pointed steel-cold eyes of her mother present, looking to drill into her if she spoke without being spoken to...there was no angry yelling from her parents. She saw an energetic, rife with a genuine camaraderie. Eda's signature snorting laugh at some joke…King attempting to snatch a bread roll but getting lifted up off the table by Lilith's long arms to his chagrin... Luz passing a bowl of some food from the human realm to her…Viney cooing at Emira and slipping food to Puddles…Jerbo and Edric trying--and failing--to conceal their affection for each other while getting teased by Gus and Willow...

She almost cried when she tasted the home cooking of the Clawthorne sisters...but not from sadness, but from happiness. This wasn;t like a dinner prepared for by servants who do their duty out of fear of doing wrong, this was made with love

This dinner...this strange Owl House...it had an effect on you, that no matter who you were or where you were from, you were family...

Family…

_This_ was a family…they’d been through hell and back and stayed by each other out of love

And Amity Blight could say for certain that for the first time in her life

She was _home_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming soonish: Chapter 12, A Grom Night to Remember


	12. A Grom Night to Remember

Luz's dream was strange, she was in a field of flowers, like one that her mother had taken her to after a cousin's quinceanera. A gentle breeze rolled through the field, and then she heard a humming, a song from the Dominican Republic, and she knew only one person who hummed that song. She looked up and rubbed her eyes to be sure she wasn't seeing things, for she saw a woman sitting among the flowers, her eyes closed as the sun kissed her face, and her hair flowing in the wind gracefully. Tears began to well in the young girl's eyes as she recognized the woman...Camila Noceda.

"...Mamá?" Luz asked, her voice small

Camila turned towards her daughter and smiled, "hola, mija" she replied

Luz couldn't help herself, she ran towards her mother, enveloping her in a hug as she cried while laughing with her mother. "¡Te extrañé tanto, mamá!" Luz said, her voice muffled a bit against her mother's shirt.

"I missed you too, Luz" she stroked her daughter's hair, she missed doing this

"Is...is this a dream?" Luz asked

"No Luz, this is more like...the stop along the way" she said, and saw understanding on her daughter's face "today is the last day I can be here...I wanted to watch over you for as long as I could, and arrange for us to meet again, like now"

"Does this mean that you're going to heaven soon?" Luz asked

"Yes, I have to go meet your papá, I've kept him waiting for so long" she said

"There's so much I want to tell you, but there's not enough time" Luz sighed, her ears drooping

"I've seen it…" Camila gestured with her hand and images of moments from Luz's life appeared around them, moments of Luz's highs and lows. "I've seen you grow into such a strong girl. You're so fearless and loving, and you're more at home then you've ever been"

Images from the big dinner at the Owl House appeared, pictures of her and her friends...and then...

Amity.

Standing in the diffused sunlight in a forest. Luz's face flushed pink and an absolute smitten expression on her face.

"...and found love?" Camila asked, flashing a knowing smirk

"Yeah...but I don't know if she feels the same way" Luz sighed

"You never know until you ask..., or maybe she'll ask first" Camila smiled and patted Luz on the shoulder "for the record, I like her, she's good for you. I wish I could've met her"

"Thanks mom" said Luz

"Though it's a shame I died, that Eda is quite something" Camila said, her cheeks dusted pink

"Are you thinking about hitting on my mom, mamá?" Luz teased

They both laughed until they cried, and then they shared a parting hug.

"It's time, mija" Camila said, parting from her daughter for the last time.

"Tell dad I said hi" Luz said

"I will, he'll be happy to hear it" Camila ruffled Luz's hair "goodbye, Luz"

"Deja una luz puesta para mi, te quiero, mamá" Luz said 

As Camila walked to the light, Luz didn't stop waving to her until she was gone. Luz awoke in her room, she wiped her eyes and then left the room to spend time in the foyer.

Her mother was dead, but she knew now that the woman could truly rest in peace.

* * *

Returning to Hexside felt weird considering everything that had transpired. Luckily Amity was there to make everything better. Bump agreed to not hold their week-long absence against them...though they did have days worth of homework to do in return in exchange. Though once that workload was over with, things seemed to return to normal…..well, as normal as one could say with a former human turned witchling attending Hexside could be.

Luz saw decorations being hung and was curious, having never seen them before “something seems different today. Did  _ everyone _ get a haircut?”

“Oh right, I forgot you haven’t been here long enough to see the social event of the season” Willow said

“Luz Noceda, welcome to your first-” Gus began, but was interrupted when two witches in surgical dress raced down the hallway, putting Chadley on a stretcher

“Come with us immediately! Your disease- it’s advancing!” said one

“Is there any cure, Doc?” Chadley asked

“Only one...finding the perfect date for Grom!” said the doctor

“If that’s the cure, then...Skara, will you go to Grom with me?” Chadley asked, holding out a beating heart with ‘GROM?’ written on it

“Ahhhhhhhh!! Of course I will, or whatever!” Skara replied, throwing her arms around Chadley, and the other students cheered

“Oh, you guys have a weird version of prom here on the Isles? Back home I got kicked out of a school dance for dressing like an otter, but here maybe I can be your Grom _ queen _ .” Luz said, striking a pose

“That’s uh...not really something people sign up for, Luz” Willow said with a nervous chuckle

Amity peeked at Luz from around a corner, holding a folded piece of pink paper and trying to calm her nerves. All she had to do was ask her crush out to Grom, easy right? 

The crackle of the PA system suddenly shook her out of her thoughts.

“Attention Hexside students, this is your principal speaking” Bump’s voice crackled over the loudspeakers

“Oh man, this is it” Gus said, biting his nails nervously

“He's announcing who'll be this year's Grom royalty” Willow siad, fidgeting

“This year I have the privilege to bestow our highest Grom honor to....Luz Noceda. Our Grom Queen!” 

Luz initially thought that it was great, but now she wasn't so sure after seeing everyone react to the news with worried whispers, and then her friends looked to her with concern.

In her room at the Owl House, Luz was panicking a bit, since she was chosen as this year's Grom royalty. Luz was fully freaking out at this point, mostly because the currently unknown elements of the event, to her, were making her anxious and she was struggling to deal with how to ask Amity to Grom and confess how she felt.

A knock on her door made her nearly jump out of her skin, she checked the time and then remembered that Amity, Edric, and Emira had agreed to come over and help her prepare. 

The clearing in front of the Owl House was where they began their training. The twins used illusionary magic to replicate Luz's "fears" (more like things that made her uncomfortable) and build her resolve for the fight. Again, she was warned about Grometheus' ability to turn into her worst fear, something they can at best hope her training would help combat. Despite her brave face, Amity could tell something was bothering Luz 

* * *

  
  


Amity took Luz to see the gymnasium where the dance would be held. Luz immediately found the biggest button in the room and pressed it, opening up the floor and revealing the arena where she would make her debut as Grom queen and do battle with Grometheus the Fear Bringer. 

"I don't think I have to remind you that this is incredibly dangerous... there's a chance you could die, Luz" Amity's face filled with worry

"Pshh, I'll be fine Ams. I mean, we fought Belos and survived, how much worse could Grom be?" Luz donned a mask of confidence, but it masked her true feelings "so...have you found a date yet?"

This caused Amity to flush red "N-No...not yet...I just have to pluck up the courage to ask them" 

Luz's heart leapt, this could be her chance "well...if you want to...would you like to go with me?"

"H-huh?" Amity stared at Luz with bugged eyes

Luz took a deep breath "Amity Blight, would you go to Grom with me?" and braced for the rejection that she had been so used to in the-

"Yes" Amity responded surely and quickly

"Y-you will?!" Luz replied dumbstruck

Amity giggled, a beautiful sound to Luz's ears "yes, I'll go to Grom with you, silly" she said with a genuine smile

  
  


"O-oh, w-well great!!" Luz said, trying to hide the redness in her face

  
  


Luz would then spend the whole next day trying to find the perfect outfit for Grom. She was going with Amity and so she wanted to look perfect. Amity had seen her try to find the right outfit and with that wonderful laugh of hers, she insisted that Luz wear what feels right to her, and not worry about looking perfect. 

So Luz found a tuxedo and tutu combo with hiking boots and though Amity called it strange, she settled on calling it "perfectly 'Luz' ". Amity had a dress she had saved from Blight manor that was pink and black.

Even Eda and Lilith decided to dress for the occasion, as they were chaparoning for the event. Lilith wore a dark blue dress with a lilac jacket, while Eda wore a suit and applied red eyeshadow.

Grom night arrived and a generous amount of Hexside's student body was in attendance, Gus and King were practicing their act, Willow was using her plant magic to make corsages and boutonnieres for the students. 

Amity and Luz entered the gym together both unaware the other wanted to grasp their date's hand.

* * *

  
  


Luz was faring well against Grom's manifestations, her arm’s weapons were proving effective, maybe more than she had thought

The cats were disturbing, but ice magic made short work of them, and defeating the visage of an online reactionary felt cathartic. For a moment it felt like she could take on the world, especially with Amity's cheers motivating her.

A tendril shot out and latched onto her forehead suddenly, and she felt something slither into her mind. It felt like an eternity, though it only lasted five seconds. Retracting the tendril, the monster's amorphous body became contorting and shifting until it took the form of Eda, Lilith, and Amity.

The Grom version of Eda looked Luz over and gave her puzzled look "what do you think you're doing, kid?"

Luz's hands began to get sweaty "wh-what do you mean? I'm fighting Grom" she said

Grom Lilith laughed but it felt like acid to Luz's ears "a human? Fighting Grometheus? How  _ cute _ , Edalyn"

"Oh Luz, you're just going to fail" said Grom Amity “maybe you should just give up”

"No! I can beat him! I've come a long way since I was that scared girl lost in the woods" Luz tried to stand her ground despite the fear in her heart "I even plucked up the courage to ask you to Grom, Amity and I was so happy you accepted" 

Grom Amity laughed an icy laugh and glared at the former human "you think I accepted because I wanted to? I did because I pitied you...you're weak and pathetic. I don't like you that way, Luz" 

Despite knowing this wasn't real, it didn't do anything to quell the sting in her heart

"Who could possibly care for such a weak human?" Grom Lilith said, circling Luz like a vulture, laughing

"You're a failure, Luz" said Grom Eda "you should just go back where you came from"

"You just make mistakes all the time" Grom Amity whispered into Luz's ear "we just hang out with you so you don't feel bad, none of us really like you at all"

  
  


The three of them laughed at her again, driving Luz to tears. She collapsed on her knees and cried while Grom took advantage of her distress to ready a killing blow.

The real Amity called out to Luz, breaking through to the afrolatina as soon as the monster was about to strike, and she got out of the way in time. Luz broke out into a run, with Grom in pursuit. The rest of the school followed to see the action.

  
  


Luz ran until she ended up at a cliff overlooking the Boiling Sea, she turned around and saw the monster, trapping her between it and the 800 foot drop. The monster continued to taunt her with insults that jabbed her in the heart, and suddenly it took the forms of Gus and Willow, using their voices to mock her.

Luz was too scared to fight back and the manifestations kept barraging her with insults

"Your friends don't care about you, they're just taking advantage of your kindness" Grom said, taking the manifestation of Eda and distorting her voice

"NO! No they’re not!" Luz protested “I care for my friends, they care for me just as fiercely!”

"Can you be so sure?" Grom Amity asked

A ball of pink flame struck the monster and it recoiled with a shriek as the real Amity rushed to Luz’s side with a fierce look directed at the beast. Luz held onto Amity tightly, grounding her to reality. She reminded herself that this was the real Amity...the Amity who fought alongside her in the Infinity Fortress...the Amity who she had a huge crush on.

Off to the side Grom returned, angered and the two witchlings separated. Amity held her hand out to Luz “Luz Noceda Clawthorne, may I have this dance?” she asked, a smile tugging at the edges of her mouth

Luz smiled and took it gladly, together they summoned an abomination, while each taking parts in leading their dance. Luz slapped a plant glyph on Amity’s abomination while smirking with half-lidded eyes, before they sent the abomination at Grom. the abomination went inside the fear bringer before the glyph activated and exploded into a massive pink tree, defeating the monster.

As bits of the creature retreated back to Hexside, a pair of crowns materialized on Luz and Amity’s heads, their reward for defeating the beast, the metal felt cool against her forehead. Her friends made their way over to congratulate her, and Amity enveloped her in a tight hug.

“Let’s give a round of applause for our Grom queens, Luz and Amity!” announced King, before he was carried off with them back to Hexside for the afterparty.

* * *

Luz and Amity were able to have a proper dance this time, without any stakes like Grometheus looming overhead. At some point they slipped outside to get some air, their crowns shining beautifully in the moonlight. They watched the stars as they leaned on the balcony railing.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Amity asked, the stars reflected in her golden eyes

“Yeah, you are…” Luz said, without thinking, looking at Amity instead, realizing what she just said after Amity reacted

Amity’s face was tomato red by this point “you...you think I’m beautiful, huh?” she said with an attempted flirty tone

Luz fidgeted with her hands and confessed “yeah I..I think you’re really pretty Amity, I have for a while now…”

Amity’s heart was threatening to leap out of her chest “Luz, do...do you like me?”

“Yes. I do. I’ve wanted to tell you for some time now but I never had the chance to do it and I was worried you didn’t like me the same way and-” 

She was interrupted when Amity pulled her into a hug 

“I like you too, Luz” Amity said

When they pulled apart, they felt loads better, like immense weights had been lifted from their shoulders.

“Can...can I kiss you?” Luz asked

Amity giggled “do you even have to ask?” she said 

They leaned in close and then

_ BONK _

Their foreheads collided and they recoiled in pain before erupting into a fit of giggles

They tried to kiss again but the next couple of times resulted in only more giggles before they finally succeeded on their third try. It wasn’t like in Luz’s fanfictions where the first kiss was a magical experience, but what they felt was relief, joy, and satisfaction.

Luz rubbed the back of her neck and said “so, um...if it’s not too much to ask...would you-”

“Yes” Amity answered quickly 

Luz laughed “I didn’t finish asking, Ammy!!” she fake-whined

“Okay fine, ask again” Amity giggled

“Would you like to be my girlfriend?” Luz asked

Amity pulled Luz close and their foreheads touched “you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for you to ask me that...yes, I would love to be your girlfriend, Luz”

After a round of pictures and punch bowl shenanigans, they returned to the Owl House holding hands, adn feeling like they were riding on clouds. When they got inside, Eda smirked and snapped her fingers for Lilith to pay up, and Lilith begrudgingly gave her a handful of snails, as well as to Willow.

“Wait...were you guys  _ betting _ on us getting together?!” Amity exclaimed

Over the course of the next week, more changes occurred on the Isles. Lilith stepped down as interim leader after the Council of Nine was restructured to become the governing body on the Isles, which allowed more open-minded decisions to be made. 

Lilith continued to work at Hexside as a Potions teacher, but using her  _ real _ name now. She felt more at ease now that she was being fully honest with her students. Eda, still out of a job, eventually decided to work there as well, doing the same thing, as Potions were her best subject when she was in Hexside during her youth. By this point the whole of Hexside was aware of Luz and Amity being a thing and Clawthorne sisters had the pleasure of teasing the two witchlings about “ focusing on the materials at hand instead of their own hands ”.

* * *

  
  


Today was the three year anniversary of when Camila had died, and in the Bonesborough City Cemetery, a headstone fashioned of gleaming black marble and gold lettering sat among the other graves. On it was the name “Camila Noceda, Beloved Mother and Healer”. Luz and Amity stood facing the grave, bouquets of flowers in hand, and wearing coats to combat the chilly autumn weather. Luz was now 16 years old, and one of the best students at Hexside, soon to earn a Top Student badge in the Potions track. She looked up at the grave and took a deep breath.

“Hey, mamá...it’s been a while hasn’t it?” her breath shuddered “things have been going well so far...I’m set to become Top Student in my classes, and I just know you’d be proud of me, wherever you are now” she looked up at the sky briefly “I miss you so much”

Amity gave Luz’s hand a reassuring squeeze “Amity is here, I wish you could have met her...I know you’d like her right away. It’s almost unreal how perfect we are for each other, but I wouldn’t have anyone else. She’s kind, brave, selfless, and beautiful” tears began to form in Luz’s eyes, which she wiped away.

The couple placed their flowers before the headstone and Luz placed a kiss on it before they left to attend a party Willow and Boscha were throwing. So much had become quite different on the Isles since Luz had arrived and made herself known. She had been a wind of change, and a catalyst for so many to become inspired in bettering themselves, Amity being one of them. Even Boscha, who had resented Luz from the beginning, had turned around and made up for her past behavior.

Luz and Amity didn’t know what awaited them in the future, but it seemed that it would be bright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Crisis


End file.
